Wednesday, August 17, 2016

Hopes were high among liberals and
progressives in January 2009 as this country’s first African American was
inaugurated President of the United States. Barack Obama had run his campaign
around a simple slogan, “change,” and for many of us who voted for him, that
meant charting a new course away from the horrendous failures of the Bush administration
toward peace and prosperity. It didn’t take long, however, for us to see that
our hopes were once again misplaced.

In the early months of 2009, anticipation
turned to trepidation as Obama began announcing his new cabinet, and we saw
positions being filled by long-time Wall Street insiders, well-connected
Washington bureaucrats and political cronies, none of whom could remotely be
considered “agents of change.” Instead of a new direction, we were treated to a
new face continuing many of Bush’s worst national and international policies.

Fast-forward to 2016. In this election
cycle, it’s a race between a particularly repulsive Republican, Trump and the
Democrat who could be the first female President in U.S. history, Hillary
Clinton. That sounds good on paper, but once again, what is being billed as a
historic moment in this country’s history is turning into a win for the status
quo, business-as-usual crowd that actually runs America. The only difference
this time around is that we progressives have no illusions about Clinton’s
establishment leanings, despite the requisite liberal rhetoric of the campaign
season.

Do I sound cynical or realistic?
Exhibit A: Clinton chose as her running mate Virginia Senator Tim Kaine, a
moderate Democrat who has supported, and recently voted for, the onerous TPP
agreement. Exhibit B: Just yesterday, Clinton named former Colorado Democratic
Senator and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to be chair of her presidential
transition team, the position that will oversee the selection of thousands of
presidential appointments should Clinton win the election.

So what’s the big deal with Salazar?
Well, as a Senator and Interior Secretary, he continuously demonstrated he was
a friend to big oil, gas, and the mining and ranching industries. He opened the
Arctic Ocean to oil drilling and played Michael Brown with his botched response
to the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. On top of that he is an ardent
supporter of the TPP and fracking. In short, Salazar is an old school corporate
shill disguised as a Democratic politician, and Clinton’s choice for one of the
most important positions on her transition team.

The national media is doing its job by
perpetuating the myth that American voters have a real choice in this presidential
election, and contrasting an obvious nutcase like Trump against Hillary surely
helps reinforce that narrative, but reality is quite different. Whether Hillary
or Trump is elected President, the powers behind the scenes will continue to
implement the military/industrial/media agenda at the expense of democracy and
the economic future of the 99 percent. Hillary is already indicating the
direction she wants to take this country as President, and it is a ruinous, if
familiar, path of greed, war and environmental decimation.